Madisonville, Louisiana - This morning, St, Tammany business owner, former Fortune 500 business executive, and retired Air Force Colonel Rob Maness, announced that he is a Republican candidate for the open District 77 seat Louisiana House of Representatives recently vacated by Representative John Schroder.

Maness said, “Baton Rouge is broken; there aren’t enough experienced, successful leaders there that can fix it. I have the proven leadership to change things. That is why I am running for the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Sadly, most of those at the Capitol went there for the wrong reasons and want to preserve the status quo. I will go to Baton Rouge to stand up and work hard to actually change things. The people of Louisiana’s District 77 have my word: I will never stop fighting, I'll never back down, and I'll never give in to lobbyists or even party leadership when its time to do what's right. It's clear that sending a Republican to Baton Rouge is not enough, we must send leaders that will not give in to the special interests.

St Tammany Parish is the greatest place in the world to raise a family. That's why the Maness family lives here. However, we see our neighbors' children forced to move to other states for opportunity because the high taxes and lack of progress in Baton Rouge is killing jobs. I am running to serve as District 77 State Representative to ensure that our son and our neighbors' children can find the opportunities and prosperity in St Tammany Parish that many are now forced to leave to find.

“I’ll stand strong and work hard with everyone to restore our economic climate so new jobs won’t pass Louisiana by. Its high time we put St Tammany families first and ensure our children’s future. The status-quo of taking money from our pockets by raising taxes to fix problems won't create the opportunities our children deserve - I will go to Baton Rouge to change that.”

The following information was provided by the folks over at The Hayride concerning Col. Rob Maness' working with a group that advocates amnesty and immigration. Maness has cast himself as the outside the Beltway candidate not in the mainstream and is a Tea Party favorite.